Sunday

Back Home in Kerala!

That was such a short trip home!

short as in really really short. I started on 19th june Friday night in the "garib-rath" india's cheapest airconditioned railway. And to travel all the way to kerala from Mumbai costed me only 691 Rupees ( $14, but the cheapest option will be less than $5)

One among the many reasons for this quick visit to kerala was the monsoons!! I really really wanted to be in Kerala at least for a day when it's raining! I just love the rains here (as much as i hate rains in the ugly streets of Mumbai city) And luckily, it was raining when i was there at home :)

Our green home

Went to Back yard for my desperate efforts to capture the feel of my home (impossible!!). But i should say, i tried at least.. and here they are...

Back yard.. papa works here in the mornings before office :)

we have to water all the coconut trees during the summers. So my papa (sometimes me too) diverts water from the tank behind to every single plant life in the backyard. You can actually see the remains of those water channels in that image.

detail of the kind of vegetation you see here.

It's not just pineapple that we have in our back yard.. Ginger, Turmeric, Jackfruit trees and Mango trees (yet to give fruits), banana trees, 'chaembu', 'chaena', and a lot many other stuff..I wished if i could just eat that pineapple. but for that i will have to wait for some more days

"thengungkundu" (coconut tree pit)

:(and ya, of course!.. coconut trees :)

i had a thermocol boat large enough for me to fit in when i was small..

I still remember me and my friend 'chudu' trying to raw our thermocol-boat inside a pit like this... just to mention it here, he tumbled!

Splash!!

"Muchinga" (baby coconut)

Mommy's Mirchi Plant

Mommy has her own set of plants next to the kitchen so that she can manage at least a small amount of cooking masalas by herself.and this inclues chillis, currey leaves, spinach, and some other plants of which i don't know the english names..

Granma's "adaykakkudam" (arricunut pot).

And ya, it stinks!!!

"vaazhakkulakal" (you know what)

I told you how much i love this place. And one among the thousands of other reasons for this love is the fact that we live WITH nature here. For example..have a look at our well.

Our 'well'. (view from terrace)

inside view of the 'well' - a complete eco-system from which we drink :) [yes! this is our daily water supply.. and the water IS pure.. naturally]

I don't really know whether you'll believe if i tell you that we have lots of frogs, sometimes fishes and turtles inside our well. And don't forget we drink from it. But the only time when we stop doing that is when a cat or dog drowns themselves inside.. then there's a whole ritual of purifying the water (nah! it's not that 'tantric' stuff... but we put potassium permanganate :P )

a 270° view of my house!.. the way that you see to the left is to the hill nearby. I'll write about it later.